174 CAESALPI^^IACEAE. » 



3. Caesalpinia reticulata Britton, Bull. X. Y. Bot. Gard. 4: 118. 1905. 



A shrub or small tree, 4 m. high or less, similar to C. haliamensis. Stem 

 and branches unarmed in all specimens observed ; young shoots puberulent ; 

 leaflets 2 to 4 pairs, obliquely oval or obliquely obovate, coriaceous, glabrous 

 when mature, strongly finely reticulate-nerved and shining above, dull and less 

 prominently nerved beneath, rounded, truncate or slightly emarginate at the 

 apex, narrowed or obtuse at the base, 1.5-5 cm. long, 3 cm. wide or less, very 

 inequilateral; petiolules 2-3 mm. long; racemes solitary or 2 or 3 together, 

 2 dm. long or less; flowers yellowish white; pedicels ascending, 1-2 cm. long, 

 becoming very stout in fruit ; calyx stipitate, the tube nearly hemispheric ; 

 stamens long-exserted; pod flat, smooth, 6-9 cm. long, 1.5 cm. wide, its stipe 

 somewhat longer than or equaling the persistent calyx-tube. 



Scrub-lands. Watling's. Acklin's. Crooked Island and Inagua. Endemic. ?51ightly 

 but apparently constantly distinct from C. haliamensis and of difEerent distribu- 

 tion ; perhaps a race of that species. Net-veined Caesalpinia. 



4. Caesalpinia coriaria (Jacq.) Willd. Sp. PI. 2: 532. 1799. 



Poinciana coriaria Jacq. Sel. Amer. 123. 1763. 

 Lihidihia coriaria Schl. Linnaea 5: 193. 1830. 



A widely branched unarmed tree, 5-10 m. high, with slender twigs, puberu- 

 lent when young, soon glabrous. Leaves 1-2 dm. long ; petioles and rachis 

 finely tomentulose; pinnae 4-10 pairs, short-stalked; leaflets numerous and 

 small, 12-26 pairs, 4-6 mm. long, very nearly sessile, oblong-linear, obtuse at 

 the apex, subcordate or truncate at base, glabrous and dull on both surfaces, 

 usually with one or more black dots beneath; flowers yellow, in small panicles 

 or racemes shorter than the leaves; pedicels glabrous, 2-4 mm. long; calyx 

 about 5 mm. long, its segments nearly alike; petals spatulate, about as long 

 as the calyx; stamens about as long as the petals; pod oblong, compressed, 3-6 

 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, laterally incurved. 



Spontaneous after cultivation. New Providence, near Nassau : — Santo Do- 

 mingo ; .Jamaica ; St. Thomas to Trinidad ; Curagao ; continental tropical America. 

 Divi-Divi. 



8. POINCIANA L. Sp. PI. 380. 1753. 



Shrubs or small trees, sometimes prickly, with evenly bipinnate leaves, and 

 orange red or yellow, showy flowers in panicles or racemes, the bracts early de- 

 ciduous or none. Calyx-tube short, the 5 lobes imbricated, unequal, the lowest 

 one the largest. Petals 5, unequal. Stamens 10, distinct, long-exserted; 

 anthers longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary sessile, several-ovuled ; style slender; 

 stigma small, terminal. Pod linear or linear-oblong, flat, 2-valved. Seeds 

 transverse; endosperm none. [In honor of Poinci, a governor of the West 

 Indies.] A few species, of tropical and subtropical distribution, the following 

 typical. 



1. Poinciana pulcherrima L. Sp. PI. 380. 1753. 



Caesalpinia pulcherrima Sw. Obs. 166. 1791. 



A glabrous shrub or small tree up to about 5 m. high, the branches prickly. 

 Leaves 3 dm. long or less, unarmed, the petiole and lower part of the rachis 

 stout, the upper part of the rachis very slender; pinnae 3-9 pairs, short-stalked; 

 leaflets 5-12 pairs, thin, very short-stalked, oblong to oblong-obovate, bright 

 green above, pale beneath, 1-2 cm. long, 7-10 mm. wide, rounded or subtrun- 

 cate and mucronulate at the apex, obtuse at the base; racemes large, terminal. 



